Reading the Political EYE and having conversations around town remind me that we are in another election cycle. Coming out of the last election cycle and looking at the local, state and national political landscape, the whole scene brings to mind a Stephen Marley song entitled “Chase Dem.” Marley is referring to politicians, a grouping that seems to rank lower than cockroaches, no matter the country.
Marley’s lyrics are direct and vivid:
Chase dem!
Run dem politicians!
When I see dem I get cold.
The song title is an updated version of a popular song penned by his famous father, Bob Marley. Chasing those “Crazy Baldheads” out of town referred to both the British who colonizedJamaicain 1655 and their lackeys. (Jamaica gained its independence in 1962 and remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.) Bob Marley used the term “baldheads” regularly for anyone who participated directly or indirectly in the oppression and exploitation of the Jamaican people.
Americans get “cold” when they see Congress. The legislative body started the new year with a 14 percent approval rating. Public Policy Polling recently found that Congress was less liked than cockroaches, genocidal warlord Genghis Khan, and the rock band Nickelback.
It seems no matter the race, gender, religion or political party, our elected officials on Capitol Hill are collectively disliked and mistrusted by most of the country. It doesn’t get much better on the state or local levels.
Of course, this widely held view should be disturbing to any civil society. These are people who represent us! Technically, that means elected officials also reflect us.
In the black community, some folks are dropping terms like “sell-out.” This should not be casually bantered about just because someone disagrees with your candidate choice. People have legitimate reasons why they support a candidate and, at times, we must agree to disagree in a principled manner. Further, there are times when one has to admit later that the wrong candidate was elected.
The term “sell-out” is significantly different from just having philosophical or political disagreements because it implies there’s money changing hands. It means a person willingly supports someone (usually an elected official or candidate) who is known to have wronged our community and, in exchange for that support, s/he receives compensation of some sort such as money, a job, etc.
This idiom lesson is being brought to you now so that we don’t waste precious energy throwing words at one another during this election season. We have some serious work to do; our state of affairs is getting no better. We must be about the business of electing candidates who reflect our values and interests and keep them accountable.
Remember, there are elections coming up inSt. Louis. Time to chase some baldheads out of office!
